IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PIZZA AT KELSEA BALLERINI’S SOIREE FOR RECORD-BREAKING #1 SMASH “LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT”

Following a formal gathering at ASCAP, rising new artist Kelsea Ballerini celebrated her first GOLD-selling, #1 single “Love Me Like You Mean It” with friends, family and members of the music industry Monday night (8/10) under a white-tented soiree hosted by label Black River Entertainment. Guests toasted with Soulshine pizza - which Ballerini and co-writers Forest Glen Whitehead, Josh Kerr and Lance Carpenter were eating as they wrote the record-breaking smash - and Ballerini treated the crowd to a pop up acoustic performance of songs from her debut album THE FIRST TIME, including “Love Me Like You Mean It” and catchy new single “Dibs.”

Flying up the Country radio charts, “Dibs” (Ballerini, Kerr, Griffin, Duke) is Top 35-and-climbing in just three weeks. Adding to the excitement, Ballerini will make her late night TV debut on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! September 30 with the sassy song.

Named by Billboard Magazine as “Country’s Next Queen,” she is hitting the road this summer playing major festivals, headline club dates and select shows with Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and will join Dan + Shay’s JUST THE RIGHT KIND OF CRAZY TOUR this fall.

Praised by ROLLING STONE as one of the “10 Artists You Need To Know” from all genres and CMT’s Next Women of Country, Ballerini launched to stardom with the release of her #1, breakout debut "Love Me Like You Mean It." Abuzz with shout-outs from superstars Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Little Big Town, she is the first solo female artist in nine years to hit #1 with her debut country single and one of only 11 women to have ever hit the top of the charts with a debut. Both “Love Me Like You Mean It” and “Dibs” are featured on her debut album THE FIRST TIME, co-produced by Forest Glen Whitehead and Jason Massey, which landed Top 5 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart.